1889 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

;World Series
New York defeated Brooklyn, six games to three.
;Ohio Championship
;Philadelphia Championship
  • Draw between the Philadelphia Quakers and the Philadelphia Athletics, who both won and lost five games apiece.

    Minor League Baseball

  • Atlantic League: Worcester
  • California League: Oakland
  • Central Interstate League: Davenport
  • Michigan State League: Jackson
  • Middle States League: Harrisburg
  • New York State League: Auburn
  • Southern League: New Orleans
  • Tri-State League: Canton
  • Western Association: Omaha

    College baseball

  • Tri-Collegiate League: Yale University

    Statistical leaders

1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner

Major league baseball final standings

American Association final standings

National League final standings

Notable seasons

  • Boston Beaneaters first baseman Dan Brouthers led the NL in batting average. He was second in the NL in on-base percentage, adjusted OPS+, and runs batted in. He was third in the NL in slugging percentage.
  • Boston Beaneaters pitcher John Clarkson had a win–loss record of 49–19 and led the NL in innings pitched, wins, shutouts, earned run average, adjusted ERA+, and strikeouts.

    Events

January–February

  • January 22 – The Indianapolis Hoosiers, with $30,000 in debt, surrender control of the franchise to the National League in the hopes of finding new ownership.
  • February 2 – John T. Brush heads up a group that assumes ownership of the Indianapolis Hoosiers.
  • February 8 – Demolition crews for the City of New York begin the dismantling of the Polo Grounds in order to run new streets through the property. The New York Giants will be forced to play their home games at Oakland Park in Jersey City and the St. George Cricket Grounds on Staten Island until a new Polo Grounds is finished in early July.
  • February 19 – A tour of baseball players led by John Ward stages its first game in Europe, playing in Naples, Italy.

    March–April

  • March 7 – Pittsburgh Allegheny players Bill Kuehne and Ed Morris are arrested and charged with operating a gambling house out of their billiard parlor. The charges against both are dropped when the prosecution's star witness fails to appear in court to testify against them.
  • March 20 – A New York City sporting goods house receives an order from Japan for baseball equipment. The corresponding letter states that a league will soon be formed as the game has been played there for several months already.
  • April 17 – The American Association season begins.
  • April 23 – New York Governor David Hill vetoes a bill from the state legislature that would block the street construction at the Polo Grounds.
  • April 24 – The New York Giants play their home opener at Oakland Park in Jersey City.
  • April 29 – The New York Giants play their first home game at the St. George Cricket Grounds on Staten Island. The right fielder plays on a stage used for theatre productions in the multi-purpose complex.

    May–June

  • May 1 – George Keefe of the Washington Nationals sets a record by walking seven batters in one inning in a game against the New York Giants.
  • May 2 – Yank Robinson of the St. Louis Browns is fined and suspended after getting into a shouting match with Browns owner Chris von der Ahe. His teammates nearly refuse to make a trip to Kansas City and do lose three straight games to the Cowboys amid suspicion they are throwing the games because of Robinson's suspension.
  • May 6 – Chris von der Ahe, owner of the Browns, rescinds Yank Robinson's suspension. The Browns respond by beating the Kansas City Cowboys, their first victory since the suspension.
  • May 7 – Yank Robinson returns to the Browns lineup and goes 4–6 at the plate, leading St. Louis to a 21–0 win over the Columbus Solons.
  • May 9 – Amos Rusie makes his major league debut with the Indianapolis Hoosiers.
  • May 14 – The Pittsburgh Alleghenys suspend pitchers Ed Morris and Pete Conway, so they will not have to pay the salaries for the two sore-armed pitchers. Morris will return in three weeks although he will never again be an effective pitcher while Conway, a 30-game winner in 1888, will never pitch again.
  • May 19 – Most of the seating is destroyed by fire at Brooklyn's Washington Park. The stands will be rebuilt within a month.
  • May 24 – Bill Kuehne of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys sets a record by handling 13 chances at third base in one game.
  • May 25 – When Dave Orr of the Columbus Solons refuses to leave the field after being ejected, umpire Fred Goldsmith declares the game forfeited to the visiting Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Both teams refuse to abide by the forfeit and complete the game after Orr is replaced by a substitute.
  • May 30 – The Brooklyn Bridegrooms defeat the St. Louis Browns 9–7 in front of the largest crowd in American Association history. 22,122 fans fill Washington Park, which has only 3,000 seats available after the fire 11 days earlier that destroyed the stands.
  • June 7 – Pete Browning hits for the cycle in a losing cause, as the Louisville Colonels fall to the Philadelphia Athletics, 9–7. It is Louisville's 14th consecutive loss and the second time Browning has hit for the cycle in his career.
  • June 11 – Dan Brouthers strikes out in a game for the first time this season. Brouthers will end the year with only six strikeouts in over 550 plate appearances.
  • June 13 – After the Louisville Colonels lose their 19th straight game, owner-manager Mordecai Davidson threatens to fine each player $25 if they lose their next game, even though the players are already owed back pay by Davidson.
  • June 15 – Protesting Mordecai Davidson's threat of fines, only six Louisville Colonels players show up for their game against the Baltimore Orioles. Davidson is forced to pick up three Baltimore amateurs to play the outfield. Charles Fisher, John Traffley and Mike Gaule each make the only appearance of their careers as Louisville loses their 20th in a row.
  • June 17 – After consulting Baltimore manager, Billy Barnie, the striking players of the Louisville Colonels return to the field for a doubleheader. The Colonels blow a ninth inning 6–3 lead in Game 1 to lose and manage only one hit while committing seven errors to drop the second game.
  • June 19 – Center fielder Dummy Hoy sets a major league record by throwing three runners out at the plate in one game.
  • June 22 – The Sporting News reports that major league players are unhappy with the classification system for pay and no say or share in their sale to other clubs, and that a strike is imminent beginning in early July.
  • June 22 – The Louisville Colonels drop a pair of games to the St. Louis Browns to extend their losing streak to 26 games, which still stands as the major league record.
  • June 23 – Louisville finally gets a win in defeating the Browns 7–3.
  • June 24 – Louisville owner-manager Mordecai Davidson resigns as manager and hires an Eclipse Park employee as the new manager, although right fielder Jimmy Wolf will actually run the team.
  • June 28 – Billy Hamilton hits three triples in the first game of a doubleheader and then adds another one in the nightcap to set a record for most triples in a doubleheader.

    July–August

  • Early July – John Montgomery Ward convinces representatives for The Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players to hold off on their planned strike for a couple of weeks until he can present them with a better long-term solution.
  • July 2 – Louisville Colonels owner Mordecai Davidson, unable to pay the players salaries, turns the team over to the American Association. The AA will announce new ownership for the team within 3 days.
  • July 6 – Player-manager John Morrill, with his team in last place in the National League at 13–40 and a personal batting average of.185, is let go by the Washington Nationals after leaving the team to go see ailing relatives in Worcester.
  • July 8 – The New York Giants play their first game at the newly relocated Polo Grounds. The stadium will remain a fixture in major league baseball until its demolition in 1964.
  • July 12 – John Clarkson of the Boston Beaneaters is taken out after pitching five innings of no-hit ball in order to rest him for his next start. His teammate, reliever Bill Sowders, allows one hit over the last four innings for the combined one-hitter.
  • July 14 – Albert Spalding publishes his ideas for the classification and structure of the minor leagues. His ideas will be the foundation of minor league baseball that last to the present day.
  • July 14 – At a secret meeting of the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City, John Montgomery Ward instructs Brotherhood representatives that "each player look up the feasibility of securing capital in his own city" for the purpose of starting a competing league that would give the players an equal say in all baseball matters.
  • July 24 – Joe Dowie will collect only 17 hits in his one season of major league baseball, but five of them come on this day as he helps the Baltimore Orioles to an easy 17–3 win over the Louisville Colonels.
  • July 26 – Jay Faatz hits possibly the shortest grand slam ever when he hits a ball that ricochets off of the third baseman's foot and rolls under some temporary bleachers placed close to third base. Faatz circles the bases as the ball is still in play according to the park's ground rules.
  • July 29 – Mike "King" Kelly of the Boston Beaneaters robs the Philadelphia Quakers of a victory when, after Sam Thompson had apparently hit a long drive over the right field fence for a home run, he manages to throw a ball back into the infield that holds Thompson on the bases. While the Quakers argue that Kelly used a different ball, the umpire rules it is the game ball and allows the play to stand. Thompson is stranded on base as the Beaneaters go on to win 7–6 in extra innings.
  • August 7 – The Cleveland Spiders score 14 runs in the third inning, still a record for that inning, during a 20–6 win over the Washington Nationals.
  • August 8 – Shortstop Jack Glasscock of the Indianapolis Hoosiers hits for the cycle against the New York Giants. Indianapolis wins, 14–4.
  • August 12 – The first-place St. Louis Browns complete a three-game sweep in St. Louis over the second place Brooklyn Bridegrooms, with an 11–0 win in front of 32,911 fans.
  • August 15 – Cleveland Spiders outfielder Larry Twitchell hits for the cycle in a 19–8 victory over the Boston Beaneaters. In addition, the Spiders become the first National League team to score a run in every inning of a game.
  • August 18 – The Cincinnati police stop a scheduled Cincinnati Red Stockings Sunday game after a court ruling prohibits Sunday baseball. The ban will be a factor in the Red Stockings' decision to jump to the National League in 1890, due to its policy against Sunday games.
  • August 25 – The Red Stockings are again stopped by police from playing a Sunday game.